Colm and Steve take a look at Pratchett taking a look at the beautiful game. Colm pedantically grumbles about some of the football stuff Terry got wrong (a forward wearing the number 4 is a crime against nature) but there’s some actual critical analysis as well! Fashion, class and dramatic stakes (or lack thereof) are all discussed herein.
Click here or get a two (hundred) footed tackle from the Luggage!
Steve and Colm turn their attentions to the illustrated homage to the last days of sword and sorcery and the first days of spacefaring that is The Last Hero. They discuss the nature of heroism, legacy, magic, science-v-religion, mortality and Diego Maradona.
Steve and Colm take a trip down under (not exactly possible on the Disc unless you want to end up on an elephant’s back, but bear with us) and discuss the last hurrah of the Discworld’s first protagonist. They wonder why Rincewind is so dense here, whether the Faculty could be the book’s protagonists, and how they can bend their minds around the distorted geography and history of XXXX.
Click here or suffer the erratic, beetle-crazed wrath of the God of Evolution!
Happy Hogswatch, one and all! In honour of the occasion, Steve and Colm are joined by their old friend, Rose to talk about the dark roots that run beneath the blossoming Yuletide cheer, and how Pratchett shines a light on them with characteristic aplomb. They also discuss best and worst Discworld villains (hint: one of the best ones was in this book), their childhood fears and why humans need fantasy.
Click here or else get a bag of bones in your Hogswatch stocking!
Colm & Steve travel to the Aurient to tackle Rincewind’s return in Interesting Times. They ramble on about legacy, colonialism, revolution and an absolutely epic finale. They’ve reached the stage in the series where there’s a lot of comparing Discworld books with Discworld books (and also the point where they fawn over the UU Faculty and Twoflower a lot).
Click here or be nailed upside-down to one of the principal supporting pillars of the Brass Bridge!
Steve and Colm leap headlong into life, death and shopping centres! They reference Michael Bay, Bruce Springsteen, Doctor Who and Red Dwarf in their efforts to wax lyrical about the emotional and thematic highs (and occasional structural lows) of Reaper Man. This culminates in a lengthy debate as to where this book fits in our podcast’s ultimately subjective highly prestigious ranking list.
Click here to ponder on the purpose of shopping centre playlists!
Colm and Steve briefly transform from bibliophiles into kinephiles in honour of the clicks. They discuss the book’s depiction of postmodern hyperreality, the notable Discworld debuts of Ridcully and Gaspode, and compare Holy Wood to Silicon Valley.
Click here to find out who the US President was when we recorded this… you may be surprised…
Colm and Rose tackle the fifth book in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Their rambling discussion takes in their reluctance about Rincewind’s reluctant hero act, a mixed bag of side characters and the top five Discworld apocalypses. Is Sourcery a step back for the Discworld, or a side track down the scenic route?
Click here to find out which chocolate bar is referenced in this book!
Rose and Colm discuss the 4th book in the Discworld Series, and they’ve brought along a friend to help! Steve Hill joins the hosts to talk about death (of course), love (of the young and uncertain variety) and a “quantum leap” in quality. Plus the Top 10 Anthropomorphic Personifications!
Click here to learn the significance of Death managing to get a curry in Ankh-Morpork!
Rose and Colm tackle Equal Rites, the book that takes a big step towards a Discworld that would be more familiar to most readers than the madcap fantasy theme park of the first two novels. They also explore the parts of the book that seem might incongruous in retrospect: a Nanny Ogg-esque Granny Weatherwax and a proto-Ridcully era Unseen University. Also, there’s the top 10 One Book Wonder Characters!
Click here to hear Colm & Rose stake their claim to be Pratchett Consultants
‘Why Gandalf Never Married’ – A 1985 Talk by Pterry on Magic and Gender
Radio Morpork 